


Percy Jackson and friends (mostly solangelo) oneshots

by thehappiestwolfluvr



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-05-14 02:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14760893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehappiestwolfluvr/pseuds/thehappiestwolfluvr
Summary: Heartlights part 1There are different kinds of heart lights.-undetermined (like, just met, don't know a whole lot) represented by the color white-platonic (romantics, not sexual) represented by the color gold-romantic represented by the color pink-intimacy (liking/friendship) represented by the color blue-empty love (commitment only) represented by the color black-compassionate love (intimacy, commitment, no passion) represented by green-consummate love (compassion, intimacy, and passion) represented by the color red (burning desire basically).Family love represented by purpleYour heartlight is a light that comes from your heart when:You touch your soulmate (the color relates to the type of love above)And when you touch a really really really really good./best friend (Blue only)You touch a very very very very dear family member (purple only)





	1. Soulmates: Blackspots

Nico sighed as he walked into school. He hated the place and all the bullies he had to face day after day that would beat him up when he was alone and not with his friends just because of the black soulmate mar he had on his cheek ad for not doing what the bullies wanted him to do. His mark represented the first place his soulmate would touch him and it was on his cheek. He just knew he was going to get slapped but he had given up hiding it years ago. It took too much work.   
Jokes on the bullies. He was learning to fight and do self defense on the weekends and he was a really fast learner. He wasn't going to take shit from nobody when he was done. At Least, as long as the smaller boy could get over the intimidation factor from those buff footballs players and manage to overpower them.   
He only had a few friends that included: Percy and his girlfriend Annabeth, His cousin Jason and his girlfriend Piper, and then Frank, who was his sisters, Hazel’s, boyfriend. Oh. He couldn’t forget about Leo, the curly haired latino elf. He hadn’t found his soulmate either and no one knew where his mark was and he refused to tell anyone. They didn’t know about Nico getting beaten up because he always kept the bruises hidden. Hazel was his half sister and she didn’t live with him and their dad. She lived with her mom (just go with it) and he always used makeup to hide the bruises and marks that were left. His friends didn't’ care how he was going to meet his soulmate because Percy actually had been slapped. Him an annabeth had known each other before because they had class together but hd never touched until he slapped her. Jason and piper’s knuckled were colorful because they met by chance in the halls and bumed hands while walking by each other and then felt the tingling of the colors appearing. Frank and Hazel had been both running late to class and ran into each other, so their rights arms were all colorful.   
“Hey, di Angelo!” a voice called from somewhere behind him and Nico instantly felt dread for what was to come. He tried to speed up and lose them in the large mass of people that were entering the building, but someone grabbed him by the backpack and dragged him away. He shrugged off the bag quickly, not really having anything valuable inside. His phone was in his pocket, as were his house keys. He tried to run, but they grabbed him by the shirt collar. He tries to twist around by stepping back with his left leg and swinging his left arm like he was taught, but a different bully grabbed him before he could. They dragged him away, out of everyone's main sight  
“Did you do our homework?” They asked as they slammed him into the wall. Nico shook his head, terrified. “And why not?”  
“I...I was helping my sister do her homework and my dad made me cook dinner. Italian food is very elaborate and hug meals…”  
“You could have done it when you were done.”  
“My dad made me clean the house and then forced me to do game night with him and Hazel. He said i could do my homework in the morning before i left. I didn’t have time to do everyone’s. I barely finished mine…”   
“Next time, our homework should be priority.” They all too turns punching him and slapping him on the cheek saying ‘Get used to it! This is what you’re soulmate is going to do one day!”   
When they were done, he was holding back tears as he pushed through, them letting him do, and he ran into the bathroom to hide the bruises that were forming almost instantly. He would check back after next class before he saw his friends again.  
  
Over the next few days, the same routine Nico had come to know continued bt slowly got worse and worse until he was left crying as they walked away laughing, his knees pulled to his chest as he held back sobs. At the moment, he wished he was dead so he didn’t have to deal with them any more. After a few minutes, someone came over and knelt down in front of him.  
“What happened? Did the football guys do something?” Nico looked up slightly to see who it was. It was Will Solace, one of the popular kids who was by far the nicest and never took part in whatever the others did, but he was only popular because of thus. When he looked up, Will’s hand immediately found Nico’s cheek and he used his thumb to brush the tears away and carefully run it over a forming bruise in the process. Nico felt a little tingling from where Will was touching him.   
Slowly, Nico nodded, sniffling slightly. “Everyday.”  
“Let's get you to the nurse and then figure everything out.” Will said as he stood up, offering a hand to Nico. The short Italian hesitated a moment before accepting, holding the back of his shirt sleeve to his bloody nose.  
  
“Who did you say did this, Will?” the Principal asked as she watched the Nurse give Nico some medicine to stop the pain and had him stuff some tissue up his nose until the bleeding stopped.  
“The football kids.” Will spouted off four names. “Luke, Ethan, Octavian, and Michael Varus. I saw them walking from his general direction and i saw him crying and looking like he had been beaten up.” When the nurse was ok, saying he was relatively ok besides bruises and a sprained ankle, the Principal talked to Nico in private.  
“Who would you say beat you up?” Nico hesitated, unsure what they would do when they knew he told on them. “I’m trying to help, Nico. Solve the problem.”  
“A..alright. It was Ethan, Octavian, Luke, and Michael...un Varus i think was his last name. The football players.”  
“Alright. How long would you say this has been going on? A few days? Weeks? Months?”   
“Almost the whole year. They force me to do their homework and would do it if i didn’t do what they told me to do. I could do exactly what they wanted me to do but, like, not do anything to them or that would involve them and they would do it for no reason. It’s been really bad the past few days, though. I think they do it cuz i’m an easy target. I am taking self defense classes though, but four against one is kinda overpowering...They would punch me and slap my mark and say that i needed to get used to getting slapped there because my soulmate was going to do it one day. None of them are it, thank god..”  
“I understand that. Does anyone know besides Will and I?”  
“No.” Nico looked down, pulling the tissue out of his nose and throwing it away. Hise nose had stopped bleeding. “Not even Hazel or Jason and anyone in the group.”  
“Alright, well, i’m going to have a look at the cameras and see what happened after i talk to each of them privately. I’m going to pull them in here and in different rooms so they cant relay their story to the others. You can go to class and i’ll let you know what happens.”  
“Alright…” Nico said, pulling out his concealer as he stood up. “I’m going to use the bathroom first.” the principal understood. She wouldn’t have wanted anyone to see her’s is she was him either.   
“Before you go, has anyone besides them touched you?”  
“Will did, briefly.” Nico replied. “Why?”  
“You’ll know when you see it.” She said with a smile before letting him go.  
  
After what she said, this made Nico walk faster. He immediately saw that his cheek was the color of the gay flag, a rainbow coloring. He smiled a ghost of a smile as he put on his stuff to hide his bruises as quickly and as evenly as he could to hide them. As he was putting his concealer bottle back into his backpack, Will walked into the bathroom.  
“Hey.” He said with a smile, flashing his rainbow hand.  
“Hey.” Nico smiled softly. “Thanks for what you did. I probably would have just stayed there all day and worried my friends if you hadn't came alone.”  
“That's what people, and i guess soulmates, are supposed to, but don’t necessarily always, do.” Will said, noticing Nico had hidden his bruises but didn’t say a word. He couldn’t blame him.   
“Yeah.” Nico smiled slightly as he turned back to his bag to hide his concealer in the bottom of his bag. Will quickly set his phone on the counter before rushing into one of the bathroom stalls. Nico, in a hurry to get to class in case Luke or one of the other guys walked in, shouldered his bag and accidentally took Will’s phone in the process. He made it to third period (having missed first and second because of what happened) right before it ended. The teacher asked where he was, the principal having nearly forgotten to let him know and Nico just said he was with the principal having a talk.  
  
After the whole day f not being on his phone and finally telling his friends about what was going on and that he was ok so they could be there for him, Nico was about to leave to walk home with Hazel when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket to see that he was calling himself (he was getting a call from his phone number) he answered after a moment, saying a quick ‘Hello?”  
“You took my phone by accident.” Will said with a slight chuckle from the other end.  
“Sorry. I was in a rush to get out of there before anyone else came in. Where are you? I’m not too far from the school. Maybe a block or so. I can come back and we can trade back.”  
“Look behind you.” Nico did as he was told and saw Will jogging to catch up to him and Hazel. Nico smiled slightly, hanging up and quickly making a contact with his number and name in Will’s phone.   
“At least we have each other's numbers already.” Nico chuckled, handing Will his phone and sticking his into his pocket.  
“That's true…” Will said, falling into step next to him.   
“So this is the soulmate you didn’t tell us name of?” Hazel asked, walking backwards and facing the boys.  
“Yeah…” Nico said, blushing slightly.  
“The circumstances weren’t the best, but hey! It happened.”  
“He, along with everybody else, thought he was going to get slapped.”  
“I just brushed away some tears.” Will shrugged, smiling slightly.  
  
  
After a period of about three months, Nico and Will got to know each other and eventually became ok enough to hold hands and be a couple. Will was really protective of Nico, though, and almost willing to fight people who said anything about him. He was getting over the initial shock of finding his soulmate that everyone went through.  
“Calm down.” Nico said, pulling him away from a straight couple who had called Nico emo. He just rolled his eyes and said he wasn’t, he just liked the color and that it was his natural hair color.   
“Don’t be stupid.” Nico said, trying to grab Will's arm and pull him away. He eventually succeeded.   
“I I'm OK now.”  
“Good, sunshine.” Nico called will Sunshine and Will called Nico moonbeam cuz he was like a creature if the night or something. “Cuz I would have just walked away if something happened.”  
“aww, don't be mean.” Will said, throwing an arm over his shoulder as they walked to lunch.   
  
  
“Let's go see a movie this weekend, guys.” Hazel suggested when Nico and Will sat down. “We haven’t done anything in awhile.”  
“I vote that movie ‘Love, Simon’” piper sad with a smile. “It's one of the only movies not set in our world. The idea where people don’t have soulmates and have to decide for themselves and he’s a gay kid who doesnt know how to come out and all that.”  
“Sounds good.” Percy said with a smile. Everyone agreed besides Leo, Nico, and Will  
“I just went from being the seventh wheel to bing the ninth wheel. I don’t want to be everyone’s third wheel on this quadruple date.”  
“Awe, come on. Maybe you’ll find your soulmate if you come.” Hazel said, smiling slightly. “You guys too,” Hazel looked at the new soulmates  
“We already have plans.” Nico said, smiling over at Will.  
  
  
  
“Are you sure this is all you want to do?” Will asked as Nico curled up against his side on his couch.   
“Yeah, why? Is this not what you wanna do?”  
“No no. I was just checking. I’m just not used to this.”  
“None of us are, Sunshine.” Nico smiled slightly and resting his head on Will’s shoulder.  
“Either way, i love you.” Will leaned to attempt to give Nico a kiss. Nico met him halfway and kissed back, unable to stop the smile that spread to his lips.


	2. trans-gay Nico

Nico stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He looked himself up and down, focussing on every flaw, every tiny thing that flooded his system with dysphoria.   
  
His hips, his face, his cheekbones, even his binder couldn't give a 100% masculine chest.   
  
Nothing was enough.  
  
He had just measured the circumference of his hips, and was disappointed to see that they hadn't gotten any smaller since his last observation. His face was still very feminine, and his high cheekbones didn't help with that at all. Sure, his voice was deepening and he was growing facial hair and his fat distribution was undoubtedly more masculine, but testosterone injections couldn't make breasts drop off somebody's chest, or make them grow a penis. He wished that it did.  
  
Nico did have a six pack though, undoubtedly his favourite part of his mostly unsatisfactory body. It required a lot of intense training to maintain, but considering his position as a demigod, time for training wasn't hard to arrange. Nico did always have to be very careful though. You weren't supposed to exercise while wearing a binder, but Nico did it anyway. He knew it was bad, but if he wore a sports bra like most places suggested, his friends could see that his chest wasn't flat and start to ask questions. Questions he didn't really want to have to answer.   
  
He wrote down his regular observations in the notebook he had used for the same purpose across a couple of years, and then started getting dressed. Somebody knocked on the bathroom door, and he changed even faster, heartbeat beginning to thunder. He didn't want anybody to catch him in this vulnerable position.   
  
Whoever it was knocked again.  
  
"Just a second!" Nico exclaimed, yanking on his hoodie and shoving his notebook up the front of his shirt, unlocking the door and allowing a sleepy Hazel to enter the room instead, slamming the door and re-locking it.   
  
He made his way quickly to his bed, pulling out a box from under his bunk and placed his book inside, looking around before shoving it back under and standing up, walking away as if nothing had happened. Nobody could find out the existence of that box, because if they did, they would know that he was trans straight away, and then undoubtedly tell every other one of his friends .  
  
His fellow demigods hadn't noticed that he wasn't a cis boy like most of his group of friends, and quite luckily too. Some of the other campers had previously expressed some rather... upsetting beliefs. Upsetting for Nico anyway.   
  
He wasn't really surprised, as some of them had grown up in the countryside, away from most diversity. The problem was, if they were rather anti trans, Will Solace was likely to be as well. Will was gay, but that didn't mean anything. He could not want to be with Nico because he didn't like girls and Nico was, biologically, a girl.   
  
And that wasn't good news.   
  
Will was his boyfriend, and he loved him very dearly, and he couldn't imagine losing him. If he found out that he was trans, and left him because of that, he wouldn't know what to do.   
  
It's just... they were a couple, and at some point or another, Will was bound to find out.   
  
That day, would truly be a dark day indeed.  
  
Nico walked out of his cabin, his sword strapped to his back, and noticed all the other activities everyone was doing. Percy and Annabeth were at the lake, Leo was in the forge, Jason and Piper were helping train some newer campers and Frank was just coming out of the Ares cabin which was where he stayed when he was here.   
Nico felt sick because of his observations. The Dysphoria was getting worse by the day, and there wasn't anybody around to help him.  
  
Of course, he could tell somebody, but he was too scared, too worried, too anxious. He was too afraid of rejection, scared that his friends would treat him differently. Scared that his friends would call him a girl.  
  
Nico turned around and headed back inside, intending to go back to his bunk and rest his eyes for a little while. To try and make sense of the mess that was his mental state, but Will came up and grabbed his hand, tugging him to go do something. Nico knew if he said he wasn't feeling well, Will would overreact and say he needed to come to the infirmary for a check up, so Nico didn't protest.   
“Food before we do anything.” will said, leading him over to the mess hall. Will was still working on getting Nico to eat more and building his appetite since the smaller, female-but-male, Italian didn't eat enough for his size.   
  
“Alright, what's up?” Will asked, rolling to the side and coming up standing as he looked at Nico.   
“What do you mean?” Nico asked, trying to play dumb.   
“Your not fighting how you normally would when we train. Well, when you help me with my swordsmanship. You have something on your mind. What is it?”  
“There's nothing on my mind” Nico lied, straight faced.   
“If there's nothing, then are you feeling alright?” Will closed the last remaining steps between them, pressing a hand to Nico's forehead and using his godly abilities to check on him.   
“I'm fine.” Nico grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away, his heart suddenly racing even faster.   
“Your heart rate just got faster.” Will said, very worried as Nico released him and tried to walk away. Will caught his hand and refused to let go.   
“Your blood pressure is higher today, too. Let me check up on you.”  
“I feel fine!” Nico shouted, trying to pull away, but failing.   
“I don't care.” Will said calmly, starting to pull Nico in the direction of the Infirmary. “I just want to check up on you just in case.”  
  
“Sit” Will commanded, gesturing to one of the stools in the infirmary. Nico did as he was told, nervous. He took off his sheath and sword, setting them next to him. Will, using his stethoscope, pressed it against Nico's back to check his breathing and moved it around as he did. Nico tensed, hopping will wouldn't feel his Binder.   
“Relax.” Will said softly, but luckily didn't feel it or see it, but when he came to use stethoscope on his chest, Will noticed it and Nico knew he had based on the confused look on his face. It had been a few years since both wars and, at the time, Nico had been flat chested and now he wasn't, hence the Binder.   
“What is that, Nico?” will asked calmly, not sounding angry, just curious. Nico hung his head and mumbled something will didn't catch. When asked to repeat, he did.   
“A binder.” Nico said, still staring at their feet. Will knew what the purpose of one was, but had never seen one. “You probably hate me and want to end this, don't you?” Will was silent for a moment before Nico heard something he couldn't place. He looked up and saw will trying not to laugh and Nico grew ever more worried.   
“W-what? Why are you laughing?!” his heart rate get faster as did his breathing.   
“Calm down.” Will said, his laugher going away at how scared and worried Nico was. “No, I don't want to break up with you, Nico. I love you.”  
“But… your gay…”  
“With an acception, I suppose. Nico, I love you for you, not because your a guy. If you want to be a girl, that's fine, if you want to be a guy, that's fine too. Just be yourself.” Nico searched his face for any sign that he was lying or something was going on that he wasn't in on, but all he saw was Will's usual sunshiny demeanor and a smile. Nico practically threw himself at Will, hugging him tightly. Will hugged back just as tightly, giving him a small kiss when he had the chance.   
“Are you gonna tell the others? You don't have to, but you should at least tell your sister.” for a second, Nico wanted to say that Bianca already knew, but caught himself and only nodded.   
“I'll tell the Seven of them and Reynard and Thalia, I guess. I've wanted to, but I was scared.”  
  
That evening, instead of going into the bathroom to change, he changed like Hazel did, facing away from her like she did to him. He took off his hoodie slowly and then his shirt, knowing Hazel was watching it at least half paying attention at his sudden change in behavior. He slowly took off his Binder, slipping on a different shirt and changing his pants after that.   
“Your trans…!” Hazel finally said, surprised. Nico nodded slowly putting his stuff away.   
“Why didn't you tell me sooner?” she asked gently   
“I was scared you guys would make fun of me and call me a girl when I don't identify as such and… I was scared Will would dump me but he said he liked me for me not because I was a guy.” Nico sat on his bed, pulling his knees to his chest as he looked over at Hazel.   
“well, I don't care. You are you and you is unique.” Hazel smiled. “But you should tell the others soon.”   
“I… I think I'll do it… tomorrow…” Nico said, hugging his knees tighter, nervous.   
“Was Nico your birth name?”  
“Nicoletta.” he replied softly, finally laying down to sleep. “But I'm getting sleep now.”  
  
  
Nico woke up the next morning, realizing he had said he was going to tell everyone today. He gulped, taking a shower and putting on his Binder as tight as he could get it before slipping on a tank top he never wore and his hoodie. Hazel wasn't in the cabin and he assumed she had left. He changed out his sheaths in favor of the one on his hip instead of his back because it would be easier when he showed everyone his chest (while still being clothed.)  
  
“H-Hey, percy?” Nico asked. “Do you know where Frank and Leo and Jason and Piper and annabeth are at?”  
“Frank's with Hazel down by the beach last I checked, Leo's in the forge, Jason and Piper are eating, and Annabeth was working on plans for a new designs for some of the newer cabins.”  
“Can you help me get her and Jason and Piper? I'll get Leo and Frank, but… but I have something I need to tell everyone…… that Hazel and Will told me I should…” Nico didn't wait for a response and took off at a low jog to the forge, where he told Leo to meet him at his cabin. He then had Hazel and Frank do the same. Hazel already knew but wanted to be there for support. Nico went to find Will. He wanted him to be there too. Will was in the infirmary just like he thought. Will gladly came.   
  
“Why did you gather us all here?” Leo said when they walked in the door.   
“I have something I need to get off my chest. Something I wasn't comfortable telling anyone until yesterday, thanks… thanks to Will.” Nico pulled out his notebook from under his bed and passed it around the room. Will and Hazel took the longest looking at it.   
“Biologically, I'm a girl.” Nico pulled his hoodie off, his Binder easily seen under the hoodie. “But I I'm a boy and I'm trans gay.” everyone, minus Will and Hazel, looked at him with surprise.   
“Gender dysphoria.” Will said softly, handing Nico his notebook back. “You feel like a boy trapped in a girl's body.” Nico nodded and held the book to his chest as he waited for everyone else's reaction.   
“You're still our friend no matter what you are Nico.” Annabeth said, smiling  
“Yeah, Cuz” Percy said with a smile and Jason agreed. Frank said it didn't matter to him. A person is a person, he said. Leo agreed and when he attempted to give nico a hug, was pushed into a wall. Nico needed to work on his temper and let more people touch him he was working on it, though.   
“We need to tell Reyna.” Nico said after a moment.   
“I'll be right back.” Annabeth said. She came back after a few minutes with a prism and a flashlight.   
“Who has a drachma?” she asked.   
“I do.” Frank said, pulling one out. Annabeth shone her flashlight on the prism, setting it on the floor as it created a rainbow.   
“Oh goddess, accept our offering.” Nico said, taking the drachma from Frank and throwing it into the rainbow. “Show me Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano at camp Jupiter.” after a few seconds, Reyna appeared in the message. She was, luckily, alone in her cabin.   
“Reyna!” Nico said, startling her. She spun around and stared for a second before saying a quick hello. Nico had pulled his shirt up to cover his chest more and crossed his arms too for good measure.   
“Hey RARA!” Leo said, earning a death glare from both her and Nico.   
“Hey, Rey.” Annabeth said with a smile from her spot under Percy's arm.   
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Reyna asked but smiled.   
“News…” Will said softly, wrapping his arm around Nico's waist. Nico shot half glare over his shoulder, but didn't push him off.   
“I already knew you were gay and in a relationship…?” Reyna said but it was more like a question.   
“trans gay.” Nico corrected, uncrossing his arms and letting his shirt slip just enough to see his Binder. “I was born a girl but always felt like a guy who was trapped. At first…At first, I kept telling myself it was wrong, telling myself that I was worthless. I beat myself up for it, because I'm from a time when it's wrong to be anything but the sex assigned at birth and wrong to like anyone of the same gender, which, I suppose, isn't exactly the case, but eventually… eventually my… older sister, she accepted me and let me be her little brother instead of little sister and I felt free. I never told you guys because I was scared you wouldn't accept me as trans. Gay, yeah, but trans, I wasn't sure.”  
“But when I makeshift patched up those werewolf scratches….?”  
“I was flat chested at the time.”   
“I'm glad you told us.” she smiled. “I'll love you no matter what. Your like the brother I never had, Nicoletta.” she said the last part to be teasing, not rude.   
“I hate my real name, don't use it.”  
“Wait, that's your real name?” Reyna said, surprised. “I was joking.” everyone burst out in laughter while Nico just looked embarrassed as he turned and buried his blushing face in Will's shoulder as the taller male wrapped his arms around him with a chuckle.


	3. Soulmate AU: heartlights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heartlights part 1
> 
> There are different kinds of heart lights. 
> 
> -undetermined (like, just met, don't know a whole lot) represented by the color white  
>  -platonic (romantics, not sexual) represented by the color gold  
> -romantic represented by the color pink  
> -intimacy (liking/friendship) represented by the color blue  
> -empty love (commitment only) represented by the color black  
> -compassionate love (intimacy, commitment, no passion) represented by green  
> -consummate love (compassion, intimacy, and passion) represented by the color red (burning desire basically).  
> Family love represented by purple
> 
> Your heartlight is a light that comes from your heart when:
> 
> You touch your soulmate (the color relates to the type of love above)  
> And when you touch a really really really really good./best friend (Blue only)  
> You touch a very very very very dear family member (purple only)

will POV

I always wanted to find my soulmate. From when I learned what heartlights were up until now. I always did and I always will. I already know my light is going to be red or gold for them. I'm a romantic man, but I'm passionate AF and have a lot of compassion for others. I'm currently in a relationship. It's with my best friend, Ethan. Our lights are still blue because we're not soulmates

I was chopping food as I waited for Ethan to get home with the milk. He was supposed to be getting milk for dinner. This dinner marked our 2 year anniversary. 

Ethan's words take a long moment to register in Will’s mind. When they do, he stops chopping the vegetables, places the knife slowly to the counter and turns to look at Ethan, who’s face is more emotionless than Will would like.

”You… found her?” Will hates how weak he sounds, how much hurt is already etched to the words.

”I did.” Ethan keeps his distance, doesn’t step into the kitchen. Will feels conflicted about that. ”Grocery store. She reached out for the same bottle of milk.”

It’s so unfair. Ethan was just supposed to quickly run to the store for milk while Will started preparing dinner. Then he was supposed to come back to Will’s place, and they were supposed to cook together while listening to Ethan's stupid Spanish music then watch reruns of shows neither of them really liked, making out until they’re a sweaty stack of limbs and finally tumble to the bedroom.

But instead, ethan quickly ran to the store for milk and had a stupidly romantic encounter with his soulmate, then came back to Will’s place to drop the news. Just like that. While Will’s chopping vegetables for what was supposed to be their two year anniversary dinner.

Will has been trying so hard to make this work. He doesn’t even like Ethan's music It’s so fucking unfair that this happened to him

He clears his throat and looks down at Ethan's feet because he can’t look at his face, not now. ”What’s her name?” he asks, even if he’s not sure he actually wants to know.

”Maya”, ethan answers, and Will hates to hear the way he says her name. Softly and sweetly, the way he’s never said Will’s. Will wishes he could blame it on the accent but knows that he can’t. She’s Ethans soulmate. She’s different. ”We didn’t have time to talk much yet, but I’m taking her to dinner tomorrow night and – ”

The choked sound of Will’s watery laugh makes ethan snap his mouth shut. Will bites his tongue; he has no right to cry, no right to be upset about this. It was never said aloud, but it was always implied that if ethan ever found his soulmate they would have the priority in Ethan's life. That Will would be cast aside and Ethan would ride off into the sunset with them.

Will always thought that he’d be ready. Or maybe, somewhere deep down, he hoped that he’d find his soulmate before ethan did. He’s heard that it’s sometimes easier to be the one breaking a heart than be the one with their heart broken. He has half a mind to ask ethan if he feels relieved, now that he’s found her and is supposedly getting free of Will, but he’s too busy having his heart tampered to the floor. Will doesn’t realize the tears are actually falling before he feels them drop from his chin.

”So, like, that’s it?” Will probes, because even if he was ready, even if he could find it in himself to be happy for Ethan right this moment, he still doesn’t understand how Ethan can throw away two years like they were nothing. He knows he sounds bitter, but doesn’t he have a right to? Even just a little? ”You stumble upon a stranger in the fucking corner store, where we’ve gone a hundred times before, and now you’ve come to tell me it’s over? Just like that?”

”She’s not just some stranger, Will – ”

”I know!” Will doesn’t mean to raise his voice but does it anyway. He squeezes his eyes shut and turns back towards the counter. Maybe this will be easier if he doesn’t have to risk looking at ethan. ”I know, and I’m sorry, but it does not make this any easier.”

Etham doesn’t say anything when Will picks up the knife again to continue chopping. The sound of the blade knocking on the cutting board is usually therapeutic to Will, almost preferable to any kind of music, but the apartment is so quiet and tense now that each chop echoes in his head, bounces on the insides of his skull, making his head throb.

The tears keep coming. Will names each of them Brutus as they blurry his vision.

It only takes that one slip.

”Fuck!” The pain sharpens Will’s focus enough that he sees the blood, drops the knife, and rushes to the sink. He holds his hand under the running water and watches the water turn pink. He’s reminded of Sunday school back in Texas, and Jesus turning water into wine. Maybe this is how he actually did it. The bleeding doesn’t seem to stop.

Will doesn’t hear ethan getting closer, and it’s already too late once they’re shoulder to shoulder. Ethan reaches to touch Will’s wrist. ”Will, let me – ”

”Don’t.” Will wants to take a step back, doesn’t want to stand this close to Paolo right now, but he needs the running water. ”Just don’t.”

”Will, you need to go to the hospital. That’s going to need stitches.”

”What I need is a minute for the bleeding to stop and then some bandages – ”

”Don’t be an idiot.” Ethan hastily wraps Will’s hand in a kitchen towel and gestures Will to hold the hand up, just like Will taught him months ago in a similar situation. ”Let’s go.”

Will lets ethan drive him to the hospital but makes it very clear that he’s taking a taxi back. He comes home alone three hours later, five stitches in his hand and a pharmacy bag in the other, and the first thing he sees is his spare key on the small table by the coat hanger. Ethans trainers are gone from the shoe rack, there’s only one toothbrush in the bathroom, and the coffee table is lacking any Spanish music. Ethan has left a green sticky note to Will’s laptop. It says ”I’m sorry”.

Will flops down on the couch. From there he can see the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter. He wishes he could drink it now like originally planned, all of it, but knows better than to mess with the pain meds. So instead he curls on the couch with his throbbing hand and stares at the black TV screen until the sun starts to rise.

"Jason, no," Nico said, picking at his food.   
"Why?" Jason asked "You'll like him. He's not that different from you." Nico should have known that Jason, asking him out to lunch on a Wednesday afternoon when he should be teaching at school, wouldn't have been a good thing. Nico never knew what teachers did in their lunch break or if they were even supposed to go off campus for lunch, but that didn't matter   
"I don't want someone like me and I most certainly don't want you trying to find NY soulmate for me!"  
Jason took off his glasses and wiped them on the hem of his shirt to clean them before looking at Nico. "I'm only trying to help."  
"Well maybe I don't want your help! I didn't ask for a soulmate! I didn't ask to be born with someone I'm destined to be with. Maybe I wanted to chose who I'm with for life." nico got up and stormed out of the restaurant. He put on his helmet and got on his motorcycle. He knew he should have been driving slower with the water in the road from the rain, but he was angry. He was already three blocks down by the time Jason made it to the parking lot and called after him. Nick wished he had grabbed the right jacket when he walked out. He was freezing. It was too late by the time he saw it. A car didn't stop in time and crashed into Nico's bike. He was sent flying and his bike was crushed. He was rushed to the hospital. 

"John Doe. Punctured lung, broken ribs, bruises everywhere, concussion and swelling brain. Will, this is on you." Cecil said. Will nodded and headed Into the room. The patient was stable now will gently touch his hand and gasped when he saw a white light. He couldn't stop shaking. He didn't know if he could do this. He had done it countless times before, but this person was his soulmate Cecil saw and the refused to let will do the operations with his shaky hands   
"Go sit in an empty room. I'll send one of the nurses to update you every twenty minutes." 

Cecil kept his promise. John Doe's lung is fixed, his ribs repaired within an hour. Within another hour, his leg was casted, as was his arm within three hours if the operation starting, he was moved to a recovery room. Will stayed by his bedside for nearly 36 hours before Kayla forced him to go home, driving him to make sure he actually left and got rest. Will lay on his couch, staring at the blank TV and eventually only got half an hour of sleep since he couldn't fall asleep.

 

 

 

He showed up to work and almost immediately checked on John Doe. He was surprised to find a blonde guy sitting there. Will cleared his throat to let the guy know he was there. The guy turned a looked at him.   
"Are you his doctor? Is he OK? They said his doctor would be in shortly.".   
"I'm not his doctor... I was, but..."  
"he couldn't perform the operation." a voice interrupted. It was Cecil. "I'm his doctor and he should be fine," Cecil explained what had happened and that he had brain swelling and all they could do was hope it went down and he woke up. Cecil left a few minutes later to check on his other patients.   
"I've been with him since last night, but they made me go home." Will said, sitting down on the other side of John Doe.   
"Why? Don't you have other patients to take care of?" The guy asked. Will said nothing, just took John Doe's hand and let the person see their white heartlights.   
"Oh my god." they gasped. "your Nico's soulmate... "  
"So his names Nico?" Will said softly, gazing at him. "How do you know him?"  
"We're friends. My names Jason."  
"Will. Well, Doctor William solace, but you can call me Will."

After about two hours, Jason left saying he had to work and asked will to text him if Nico woke up at all. Will nodded and they traded numbers. Will spent most of his time at Nico's bedside, watching their heartlights pulse with every heartbeat and only left to check up on other patients when needed. This went on for days and Cecil said that Nico's swelling had gone down significantly after a week. After another week, Nico woke up.   
"Will, he's awake," Cecil said as will walked out of one of the patient's rooms. Will practically ran into Nico's room. Nico looked at him for a moment and opened his mouth under his breathing mask to say something, but nothing came out.   
"I'll be right back." Will said and went to get him a drink of water for him. He carefully lifted the breathing mask and slowly tilted the cup so he could drink a little bit. Will was careful not to touch him skin-to-skin   
"Who are you?" he said softly.   
"William-will-Solace." Will said, glad he was awake. Will's phone rang. It was Jason. He held up a one moment finger to Nico as he answered 

"Hello... Yeah... He's awake... You want to talk... OK... Yeah... I'll let him know... Bye." he hung up.   
"What was that?"  
"Your friend, Jason. He asked me to call him when you woke up but he called me first."  
"Oh... Why... Why are you checking up on me when you have other patients?" Will slowly reached out as if to grab his hand. Nico moved slightly as if saying no, but let will touch him in the end. His eyes widened slightly when he saw their heartlights and hearts that were somehow beating in time. Will's light had a goldish reddish background tint but was predominantly white. Nico's was pure white, as he didn't really know Will a whole lot.  
"No one will tell me what happened. Not fully. They only tell me about my injuries. Do you know what happened?" Nico coughed slightly and will be helped him drink more water.   
"I don't know a whole lot either, to be honest." Will was about to tell Nico what he knew, but Jason ran into the room.   
"I'm glad you're OK!"  
"Will somebody tell me what happened?" Nico asked looking from Jason to Will.   
"Do you remember us having lunch a while ago?" Jason asked nervously, earning a nod from Nico. "Well, when you stormed off, you forgot your wallet and phone. You drove away on your bike and... A car didn't stop fast enough and you got hit. They didn't know who you were because you didn't have any identification. Piper and I went to your apartment that evening and you weren't home. We asked around with the other guys and no one had seen you. We called around to the hospitals to make sure nothing happened and one had someone that sounded like you. It was. I came and stayed by your side until I had work and Cecil told me what happened after Will came in and revealed himself as your soulmate."  
"I knew about the accident part," Will said softly. 

After a few days of talking and chatting and will spending most nights in his room in a chair and Nico complaining that it wasn't good for his back, Nico was just watching Will reading something on his phone and Nico had his hand on his ankle that was in his lap and their heartlights were showing, Will's a more red color now and Nico's still white. Nico smiled slightly and blinked when suddenly, his heartlights changed to red in an instant. Will blinked and looked at him over his phone with a soft smile. Will pulled his ankles off Nico's lap and onto the floor. He took the chance and kissed Nico. Nico hesitated before letting him do it but kissed back when he did. 

After another week, Nico, still with his ribs slightly cracked but enough he could walk and move on his own, and a few bruises everywhere still Nico was allowed to go home. Will watched from a few steps away as Jason helped him into the car.   
"I'll come over when my shift is over, alright." Will said, giving him a quick kiss before he got in the car.   
"I'll be waiting," Nico said, kissing back before finishing getting into the car. 

That evening, Nico was almost half asleep on the couch when there was a knock on the door. With a grunt and a wince of slight pain, Nico pulled himself up and over to the door. It was Will, just like he expected. 

"ya know?" Nico said as he curled up against Will as they watched a random movie. "That day... The accident.. I was mad at Jason for trying to help me find you and.. And I said that I maybe I didn't want to find my soulmate and that I didn't want to have been born with someone j was supposed to be with and that maybe I wanted to chose who I ended up with... But that's not true anymore."  
"If you could choose, do you think you would still choose me?"   
"Maybe." Nico smiled slightly, staring at the TV. "I love you."   
"I know."Will said, moving his hand down slightly to Touch the skin on Nico's arm and let their heartlights light up. Nico moved so Will's arm wasn't touching him and let their heartlights go out for a second before kissing him and letting them light back up.   
"I will always love you like this." Will said into the kiss.   
"And perks of having a doctor for a soulmate. He can read me better than anyone and know immediately that something is wrong." Nico muttered, moving back so he was just curled against him so he didn't strain his ribs anymore.


	4. Soulmate AU: Your name on my skin (prologue)(will be a three shot if you don't include the prologue.)

Nico di Angelo was always the quiet kid in the back of the class with very few friends. HIs group only had four people, five if you included himself: Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Annabeth Chase, and his sister Hazel Levesque. Percy has already found his soul mate and he wasn't even done with high school. Most people never found out who their soulmate was until they were adults and even then had trouble finding them because their name was so common. His soul mate was Annabeth. It was known because, although her full name wasn't there yet, he had her first name (Annabeth) and the letters C-H on his arm in her elegant handwriting. Sometimes, as a joke, she would finish writing the letters of her name, but they were never the same size, so it was a little obvious.  
Nico was born a girl. His birth name was Nicola di Angelo but for his whole life he felt like a boy in a girl's body (Gender Dysphoria) so when he grew up, he kept going by Nico. In Italy, his home country, everyone accepted him for him. When he was closer to 8 (this started when he was six and a little confused about himself) he moved to America and expected it to be like back in Italy where everyone accepted him. The first few days, people were saying horrible things to him and he ran home crying to his Mama, who would hush him and hold him until he stopped crying, reassuring him the whole time that he was fine and that they just weren't used to the idea like everyone back Home was. When he was twelve and thirteen, starting to grow breast, he would wear bras but when they got bigger, he would wear binders. They gave him the appearance of a relatively flat chest. He wore slightly-too-big hoodies and shirts that fit loose enough to hide it.  
  
Nico had no idea who his soul mate was, although he hoped it was a guy. So far, he only had "Will" on his arm. It could have been short for a number of things: William, Willow or it could just be Will.  
  
  
  
  
  
Will Solace had a few friends. They were his best friends Cecil and Lou Ellen. Will felt bad for Cecil, who had Lou's name across his forehead. It was obvious who his soulmate was. Lou had hers on her wrist where it could be easily hidden if she wanted to, not that she did. Will had a few letters so far on the palm of his hand, but not enough to determine who his soul mate was. He had the letters "N-I-C" He assumed it was going to be Nicole or maybe even Nicholas. He hopped it was the latter because he always thought guy's were cute. Either way, he knew he would love his soul mate. Will was born a guy and felt like a guy


	5. Your name on my skin part 1

Nico woke up, searching through his closet for what he was going to wear today, throwing shirt after shirt after sweater behind him in a hurry to find something he couldn't seem to find. He was panicking. He couldn't find his hoodie and he knew he had hung it up last night when he took it off. Gulping, he quick and carefully put his binder on to hide his chest, slipping on a different shirt and his black skinny jeans with the frayed holes in the knees before walking downstairs to see if maybe he hadn't actually hung it up.   
He heard his mama in the living room, humming an old melody he knew he should know but didn't for some reason. He checked the coat rack by the door (although he never hung anything up there) in case he had left it somewhere and his mom or Bianca hung it up when she was visiting last night (she was now in college). It wasn't there. He grew even more panicked until he walked into the living room and saw his mom with it on the couch with a needle and thread. She was sewing a rip that had formed a little while ago when the hood caught on a low tree branch that he was too lazy to sew himself.  
"Morning, Nicola." She said in Italian, not looking up from when she was going. Nico wasn't even mad that she had used his birth name, not the name he went by as a boy. She had slight dementia (more specifically, Alzheimer's) and all he could do was remind her.  
"It's Nico, Mama, not Nicola and you didn't have to do that for me." He said softly in Italian as he sat down next to her. (their conversation is in Italian)  
"I wanted to." She replied with a smile, tying off the tread and cutting it. "I'm sorry that I keep forgetting, Nico." She handed him back the hoodie. If it weren't for the fact that the thread was white instead of black, Nico wouldn't have even noticed the stitches. He thinks she did that on purpose to give it some contrast to the rest of the black and dark (almost black) purple Imagine Dragons hoodie. Imagine Dragons was his favorite American band and he had learned their songs and what they were saying long before he could actually speak English. They were a big help to him learning something besides his native language of Italian.  
"It's alright, Mama. You can't help it. I'm ok with just reminding you." He gave her a hug. "Grazie." She hugged him back for a soft moment.  
"Get along to school." She said, ushering him to grab his backpack and get to the bus stop. Nico always ate breakfast at school (it was free).  
"Take your medicine," Nico called over his shoulder as he walked out the door. His mom was in the kitchen doing something.   
  
As he was waiting for the bus stop, his sleeve pushed up, Nico noticed that he had a new letter. He had an I now, making his name "Willi". Nico knew it was a guy now, probably William or Willie, but probably the former. Pulling his sleeve down as he sat on the bus, he started to wonder who it could be. William was a very common name and he could name at least three at his school. Johnson, White, and Green. he hoped it wasn't any of them. He knew Johnson had found his soul mate but he wasn't sure about White or Green and he hoped that it wasn't either of them. They were total assholes who beat up a lot of people.   
  
  
  
  
Will sighed as he sat in the car next to his mom. Because of work, they had to move again and they had been driving all night with the Uhaul trailer rattling along behind them. He had slept off and on all night when he could, putting in his earbuds to drown out his mom's awful country music. Country music wasn't awful (irl, i think it is) but what she listened to was. She was still making him go to school despite him being exhausted and not having a restful sleep. He brought to her attention that it wasn't good for his health, but she wouldn't listen.   
"Will, i know you don't like this move, but i have to for work. I got a promotion that i had to accept." His mom said, glancing over at him.  
"I don't see why i couldn't stay with dad. I have to leave my best friends and make new friends or be alone"  
"You now how i feel about him after what he did. He's not a good person, but i am sorry you have to leave Cecil and Lou"  
"He's your soulmate..." he said, sighing. He didn't do anything...He's a better person than you" Will mumbled. looking down at his hand. He had three new letters in the past few days. He now had "Nicola" and he just knew he was going to be getting a girl for a soul mate.  
He had met his dad a few times and he was a great guy besides having a slightly too big ego. He was, in a way, a jack of all trades kind of guys when it came to Music, Poetry, Medicine, and Archery. Will wanted to follow in the medical aspect by becoming a doctor and it wasn't because of his dad. He had always wanted to save lived when he grew up and that was the easiest way to do what he always wanted to do.  
"We're here." His mom said after a while. Will looked up, seeing they were at his new school. Looking in the mirror to make sure he didn't look a mess, he got out of the car. His mom handed him two keys and said she would text him the new address. She was going to drop the trailer off in their reserved parking spot and then was going to be at work until late, so there would be money to order a pizza or something. She also asked him if he could bring a few boxes in. He nodded and walked inside to the office to get his new schedule. He was going to shadow this kid, Nico di Angelo today and tomorrow to get a few for the school before his schedule was actually put in place. He felt a tingling on his hand and looked down to see he had gotten an d. "Nicola d" was the name now and he knew it was foreign.   
  
"Ground rules" Nico said as they walked out of the office. "I don't like people, aside from a special few. You're not one of them. Don't try to make conversation with me. Don't talk to me unless it's a question or something about the school. Once these two days are over, we don't have to talk to each other or see each other again and i plan on it." WIll was taken aback from how blunt he was being. Will also noted his forgien accent.  
Nico suddenly pulled back the sleeve of his Imagine Dragons hoodie to look at his arm. Will noted the name "William S" on the arm. Nico quickly pulled his sleeve down and muttered: "At least it's not Green or White. That would've fucking sucked."  
"I like Imagine Dragons too." Will said.   
"They kinda helped me learn English to be honest. My first language was Italian."


	6. Your name on my skin part 2

Over the next week or so, both Will and Nico continued to get letters on their skin. Nico kept his arm covered, refusing to look at any more letters after he got the name "William Sol' He knew who it was, but he didn't want to look at the other three letters that had formed. He had been so rude to Will and he didn't want to face him after that, so therefore, as long as possible, he was avoiding looking at his name in the handwriting of the cute blonde.   
Will had gotten almost all of his letters. his hand now read "Nicola di Ange" and that was only in the course of four days. He had never gotten letters this fast before. they usually came at random and not more than a few weeks apart. He had a strong suspicion he got someone related to Nico because the last name looked so close to 'di Angelo.' He hoped so much that it wasn't because, in all honesty, he thought Nico was cute. He and Nico hadn't talked since his two days of shadowing him and it had been a little over a week since then.   
  
"Do you know who your soul mate is yet, Nico?" Hazel asked at lunch. She was his sister because their dad was a rare person who had two soul mates. He was killed shortly after both of them turned three, so they never got the chance to meet him and both lived with their moms.  
"No." He lied. In his heart, he knew, but he refused to look because he just knew it would be confirmed.  
  
Within a few more days. Will had the full name "Nicola di Angelo." With a nervous and shaky breath, Will walked up to Nico at lunch one day where he was sitting silently with his friends, who were having a conversation. It wasn't that they weren't trying to include him it was just that he was quiet and 'wouldn't join in, listening to his music.   
"Um...excuse me?" Will said, causing them to look at him. "C-can I talk to Nico for a second? Alone." Hazel tapped Nico on the shoulder and he pulled out an earbud, glancing at her.  
"Will wants to talk to you. Alone."  
"No." Nico looked him dead in the eyes when he said it. Sliding into the empty seat next to Nico, Will (making sure to keep his hand so no one else could see it) placed his hand in front of Nico, whose eyes widened as he shoved up his shirt sleeve to see the name. It read "William Solace." All of Nico's friends were watching them curiously.  
"I thought it was going to be someone related to you." Will said, slightly confused. Nico simply got up and walked away. Will followed after a moment. They were in the hall outside the cafeteria. Nico turned to face him.  
"two things. First of all, I'm sorry for how rude I was."  
"It's ok," Will said softly.  
"Second, I'm transgender. I'm a boy in a girl's body... I wear binders to hide my boobs and I have a vagina, although I wish i didn't have either. My birth name," Nico took Will's hand and gazed down at his name on Will's hand in his very own handwriting "is Nicola. I don't use it." He pulled out a sharpie from his pocket and lightly crossed out the "L" and "A" in his name. Will merely smiled at that and gazed at Nico. He could finally (now that he had been told) see that Nico was (emphasis on the /was/) a girl. He still had a few of the features, even though he was taking testosterone shots to make him more masculine, but in time he would more look like he wanted: a boy, not a girl


	7. Your name on my skin part 3

"Y-you don't care that I'm trans...do you?" Nico asked nervously that afternoon as him and Will walked to his house. Nico was taking him to meet his parents. In the world, the 'female' of the relationship was always the one to take their soul mate to meet their parents first. It wasn't, like, a tradition or anything, it just how it always was. Some would let the 'guy' do it first, but it was mostly the 'girl.'   
"If I did, I would be one bad soul mate." Will said, smiling at Nico. "You be you and I'll lo- accept..i'll accept you as you." Will almost slipped and said love, but caught himself. He didn't know how far along they were and if that was ok yet. After a few more minutes, they were at Nico's doorstep.  
"Before we go in, there's something you should know about Mama," Nico said, pulling out his keys. "She has Alzheimer's. She forgets things easily, so don't be alarmed if she forgets you a few times." Will only nodded as Nico opened the door and led him inside.   
"Mamma, sono a casa!" Nico called, shutting the door behind Will  
"In cucina!"  
"Abbiamo un ospite, Parla Inglese"  
"How was your day, Nicola?" She asked as Nico came into the kitchen and gave her a hug. WIll was a few nervous steps behind.   
"It's Nico, Mama. I'm a boy, remember?" He said it calmly as if he was used to saying it. "But my day was pretty great, I guess." She pulled away when she saw Will, her eyes lighting up. It wasn't every day she saw her son with a new friend and it was just as rare for him to bring friends over.  
"Who's your friend?"  
"Mama, this is Will Solace, my...my..." Nico couldn't say the word and he didn't know why moving his hand in a 'come-on' gesture as he tried to make himself say it.  
"Soulmate." Will said with a smile, showing Nico's mom his hand with Nico's name and the crossed out letters. Nico showed her his arm with Will's name.   
"Let us hope i do not forget." She said with a smile, pulling them in for a hug. Nico caught the smell of something sweet baking and was curious as to what it was.  
"What are you baking?" He asked, pulling away. Her eyes widened slightly and she rushed to turn off the oven and pull something out. It was what looked like cream puffs. Nico's mouth started to water at the thought. His mom's baking was the best. She set the tray on the stove to cool before returning to the dinner she was making. Nico snagged two puffs, offering on to will, who politely shook his head. Nico looked at him like he was crazy and stuffed them into his mouth. His mom turned around and caught him mid-chew, giving him a look that said "really?" He swallowed slowly, smiling.  
"You may stay for dinner if you like." She said to Will, smiling before ushering them out of the kitchen. "No more stealing food, Nico." Nico chuckled to himself as if he knew that wasn't going to happen. As he was leading Will out of the kitchen, and through the dining room, there was the doorbell.  
"Lo comprenderò," he called, opening it. It was his sister, Bianca. He gave her a quick hug, whispering something in her ear.   
"Will, meet my sister Bianca. Bianca, meet my...." he still couldn't say the word and was growing frustrated.   
"Soulmate." Will said with a smile.  
"Yeah, that. HIs name is WIll Solace."  
"Treat my brother well." She replied with a smile before shutting the door and going to say hello to their mother.  
  
"Do you mind if I take off my.... my...." Now Nico really couldn't say the word and he was frustrated even more with himself. "I...i need to take off the thing in my shirt. It's not recommended to wear more than twelve hours. Its been on since like five this morning and we're pushing six PM, almost 13 hours." Will nodded. He knew (and cared a lot) about safety reasons.   
"I can leave if you want?" Will said and Nico shook his head   
"Only if you want to. I don't really care. You're going to see it eventually." Will nodded and sat back down at Nico's desk that was pushed up under one window. Nico took off his hoodie, carefully hanging it up in his closet before, with his back to Will, lifting his shirt up just enough to undo the binder and put it back in the closet. With his shirt back in place, he sat down on his bed, looking at Will. He was going to say something when his face suddenly twisted in pain and his hands flew (instinctually) to right below his stomach.  
"I hate this..." He groaned and Will was slightly worried.  
"Are you ok?"  
"Cramps," Nico said. "I need Tylenol, but I don't think I can make it down the stairs without making them worse."  
"I'll go ask for you." Will said with a smile, walking downstairs. About five minutes later, Will came back with two pills, a glass of water, and a heating pad just in case. Nico practically snatched them out of his hand and downed the pills and water in a few seconds. When Will offered him the heating pad, he shook his head, collapsing back on his bed while still curled into a ball as he looked up at Will.  
"It might help." Will said softly, but he wasn't going to push the matter. Nico shook his head then, somewhat weakly, made grabby hands at Will, who set the pad on the chair before curling up next to Nico and holding him close.  
"I love you," Nico said after a moment.  
"I love you too." Will said, kissing his head and pulling him closer.


	8. Fatal disease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, but I was asked to write this by many of my friends because they wanted a sad story. I looked up a dialogue prompt thing on tumblr and a generator and this was one of the prompts I got:  
> /“I…I have something to tell you, and I’m not sure how to say it.”   
> “You’re scaring me now, what’s going on?”/
> 
> I wanted to cry from this but the tears wouldn't come. Please don't hate me

“I…I have something to tell you, and I’m not sure how to say it.” Will said to Nico. They were in high school right now and were dating.   
“You’re scaring me now, what’s going on?” Nico asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked at his boyfriend  
"I...I...what i'm trying to say is...Nico, I have cancer...brain cancer." Nico blinked a few times, processing the information.  
"Y-you're going to be ok, right?" Will shook his head, tears welling up in his blue eyes. Crying was not a good look for him.  
"I ignored all the signs...I was.... assuming it was stress because.....because...I took all the classes for...for...college credit and I was stressed. It's terminal, Nico...terminal."  
"What do you mean? Y-you're scaring me, Will."  
"They can't cure it, insufficient treatment is available at this point in the medical industry." Will wiped his eyes as Nico suddenly embraced him, hugging him tightly. Will hugged him back tightly, trying not to sob.  
"Crying...It's ok to cry. This...this is a lot for anyone." Nico muttered against his chest., trying not to cry too. "We'll make the best of what we have left."  
"I only have a 30.8 percent of surviving for a year, a 13 percent of five years. its probably not long."  
"I don't care about statistics!" Nico said angrily, pulling away and glaring at him. "We're going to do all the fun things we can while we can."  
.  
.  
.  
"I can't, Nico...It...it could cause internal bleeding and...speed up what we don't want."  
"Just the ferris wheel." Nico said, being understanding and wanting Will to survive as long as possible.. There was a fair in town with a ferris wheel and a few small coasters and food and fun. Will wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulders as they waited in line.  
"Oooh! You can see our apartment building from here." Nico said, pointing in the direction they lived. WIll smiled.  
"Yeah, you can." Will smiled but suddenly yawned.  
"Are you tired?"  
"Suddenly, yes." Will blinked a few times.  
"I'll drive." Nico said as they got off the ride, grabbed a quick snack to go while the lines were short.  
"You don't have your license." Will said as they walked to the car.  
"I have a permit and you have a license but your too tired to drive. I'm not taking no for an answer." Before Will could say more, he stole the keys from his pocket and got in the drivers seat.  
"Lets go see a movie." Will said. "I want to see a few more."  
"Alright, anything specific?" Nico asked. They had just been going for a walk through the mall and trying to find where Hot Topic was.  
"There it is. We'll see whats playing after we hit the store." Will smiled slightly.   
After looking around for a little bit to see what there was, Will snuck off an bought a necklace set.  
"Will, where's you go?" Nico asked, looking around. Will came back from the register (sneaking up behind him), ripping open the package on the necklaces. He quickly slipped one onto Nico before slipping the other around himself.  
"why?" Nico asked, running his finger over it as he read what it said.  
"Because I love you." Will kissed his cheek. "Now come on. I think Love, Simon is still in theaters." Nico held Will's hand but kept his free hand on his new necklace. It was special and always would be.  
.  
.  
.  
Nico groaned as his phone rang. It was 3 am. He was too tired to see who it was, so he picked it up and answered it with a slightly angry "Hello." No one would be stupid enough to call this early in the morning.  
"Nico?" It was the familiar voice of Naomi Solace, his boyfriend's mother. Something was off about the way she sounded.  
"Hey, Ms Solace." Nico yawned, barely registering what was happen since he was half asleep.  
"It's Will, Nico. Something happened." Nico shot up, scrambling to find some clothes as he held his phone between his shoulder and his head.  
"What happened?"   
"He woke up in the night and..and he fell down the stairs. he hit his head. He's going in an out of consciousness."  
"Where are you?" Nico jumped from foot to foot as he tugged his shoes on. He was halfway down the stairs when he heard the front door open. It was his dad home from work.  
"Denver Medical. The main one. I'll be there soon." He said a quick goodbye.  
"Dad, I need to borrow the car." Nico said.  
"Why are you awake?" His dad asked, sounding irritated. "You have school."  
"Ms Solace called me. Will's in the hospital. I need to borrow the car." In the last six months, Nico had finally gotten his liscence and could drive when his dad didn't need the car. "This is more important than school."  
"Alright. Call me and let me know if you're going to school or not once you know." His dad handed him the keys. "Just be back by seven PM. I have work." Nico was out the door in an instant, the car door barely closed when he started backing out of the driveway. He thinks he broke nearly every speed law in order to get to the hospital and he didn't even care.  
.  
He got into the waiting room where he saw Naomi Solace pacing back and forth with tears in her eyes. A few doctors and nurses tried to help calm her down a little bit, but she would yell at them to leave her alone and shout that she wouldn't calm down until her little boy was safe.   
"Naomi." Nico said, his tears finally starting to come. They embraced each other, both crying softly.  
"Did he tell you?" She sobbed. Nico nodded.  
"He had cancer and mistook it for stress. It was too late by the time he realized." He hugged her tighter.   
"Go back and see him. He asked for you a few times."  
"Come with me."  
"I...I can't...Not now...He's saying things that...that scare me a little bit." Nico nodded slightly and pulled away before a nurse led him into Will's room. Will was laying on a hospital bed with breathing tubes up his nose, blankly staring at whatever was playing on the TV.   
"Will?" Nico sniffled, wiping his eyes on the edge of his hoodie sleeve. Will's eyes flicked over to him and a soft smile spread across his face.   
'Come in' Will mouthed. Nico came into the room and sat down in the chair next to the bed.   
"I'm not..........not gonna make it...." Will whispered, his lips barely moving. "Not longer."  
"Don't say that." Nico said, taking Will's hand as he tried not to break down in sobs.  
"Its true" Will slurred. (it sounded more like "iiiiss twu")  
"You have to have hope, you have to have hope, Will. I can't loose you. I love you."  
"'Ove 'ou" Will barely managed.  
"I love you too." Nico brushed his lips across Will's knuckles as his boyfriend's eyes fluttered slightly.  
"'oodie...." Will managed, his head weakly resting on his shoulder.  
"What?" Nico got a little closer, crying slightly as he tried to hear what Will was saying.  
"Hoodie...yours..."  
"You're giving me your hoodie?" Nico was slightly hiccupping for air since he was crying.  
"ye...pock...et...lo...ok...m..o...m...eee...'as et." Naomi chose that moment to walk in the room, sobbing while still holding Will's sweater to her chest.  
"He wants me to have his sweater..." Nico said softly, not taking his eyes off of Will. Naomi hesitated a moment before giving him the sweater and taking a seat on the other side of Will. Nico dug in the pockets until he felt a small box. He pulled it out and, confused, pulled the lid off. Inside was a ring. Nico, sobbing the whole way, pulled it out and examined it. He saw that, on the inside of the band it said "stay strong" but had a small heart on the outside of the band.  
"I love it." Nico mumbled, holding it in his hands.  
"We...r eeh."  
"What baby?" Naomi said, getting closer to her son.  
"Wer eeht." Will was staring at Nico. Nico understood and slipped it on. It fit perfectly and Nico knew it would fit the same forever: perfectly. Will smiled, his eyes fluttering again before fluttering shut.  
"'oooom." He groaned weakly. ""Ove 'ou."  
"I love you too, Baby. I love you more than anything."  
"Eeekkoo...'Ove 'ou...'Ove 'ou."  
"You're my everything, Will. I will always love you" a small but weak smile spread across Will's face. It was nearly two hours (now six AM) where they sat in silence (besides their crying). After three hours (now seven AM), Will's breathing slowly and slowly grew more shallow  and then stopped. They only really knew it had stopped when the heart monitor flat lined and was just one long beep. He was gone. Naomi and Nico started sobbing loudly, holding each other tightly and not letting go.


	9. Lost and Found

"Nico, please! just come outside!" It was Annabeth. She was pounding on the Hades cabin door. It had been over two years since the accident. Nico had finally been starting to warm up to people again when it happened. After that, his world crumbled all over again like it had ten ago when Bianca had died. Everyone had given him plenty of time to grieve over his loss. Nico was nearly 20.   
"No! Go away Annabeth!" Nico really wanted to go back and live in the underworld. but Hades refused. Nico complained that it wasn't any different than before, when he was doing it a few years ago, but Hades wouldn't let him do it again.  
"This isn't what he would want, you shutting yourself up again!"  
"You don't know him like I did!" came an angry half sob half shout from the Son of Hades. "Leave me alone!"  
"But I do know he would want you to move on and still be with your friends." Annabeth said softly. "I can't force you to come out, but I can try to convince you. If you want me to leave you alone, I will. You still need to eat, though. I brought you a muffin." When she got no reply, Annabeth set the wrapped up muffin on the doorstep and walked away.  
After she walked away, Nico waited a few minutes before opening the door and glancing around before grabbing the muffin. and quickly closing the door. He sat down on his unmade, skull-pattern bed and slowly unwrapped the muffin. He glanced over at his nightstand as he slowly bit into the blueberry muffin. Sitting on it was a few pictures. Some were him and Thalia, some were him and the Seven, and his favorites (that dominated the small space) were that of William 'Will' Solace. Nico was in a few with him, holding hands, selfie's (Leo had found a way to make chips to block out the monster signals of phones for Demigods), and one that was his all time favorite: Will on one knee, proposing to him. Will was 20 years old when that happened. Nico had been 18. He loved the picture because it was a huge day in their relationship but he hated it because it was also taken on the day that Will died. Will was killed by a monster. A monster was attacking an innocent demigod child of around six and Will, a sword in hand (because his bow was too hard to hide in the mortal world), attacked with Nico's help and they saved the little girl. Will ended up dying with his sword in his hand  
.  
.  
.  
After another week, Annabeth finally convinced Nico to go visit her cousin with her (since no one else could) in Boston. A three hour drive from Camp. Nico was silent the whole time, ignoring the music Annabeth had playing in her car as if he was deaf. Annabeth was nice and kept the music low. She tried to talk to him, but when he kept staring out the window as if he couldn't hear her, she gave up.  
"Magnus!" Annabeth said happily as she pulled into a parking lot and rushed out of the car to hug him. Nico slowly came out of the car and walked over.  
"You're dead, aren't you?" He asked blatantly, blinking a few times.  
"Nico!" Annabeth said, pulling away from Magnus, shocked by her friend.  
"No, Annabeth, it's fine." Magnus said. "But yes, technically I am dead. I don't want to go into details, but the norse gods like thor, odin, loki, frey, they're real, as are the nine worlds and I died a heroic death. I ended up in valhala where I will remain until Ragnorok. I'm Magnus, by the way, Magnus Chase."  
"Nico di Angelo. One of Annabeth's..friends. I don't really care much for people, dead or alive and I don't know how she convinced me to come out of the Hades cabin." 

  
After sitting down at the falafel place (Magnus knew the owner's son and could get a discount, but not too much) and talking and ordering food (Nico said it wasn't hungry), they decide to go for a walk. Magnus and Annabeth talked and tried to get Nico to join in the conversation, buthe just walked silently beside them  
"What's wrong with him?" Magnus asked Annabeth softly, making sure Nico couldn't hear.  
"Two years ago, uh, his boyfriend, no. Fiance died. The day he proposed. His name was Will Solace. He was a-"  
"Son of Apollo? a healer like me?" Magnus asked, surprised. "He   
"Yeah, how do you know him?"  
"He's just down the hall from me and Alex. He died saving a Demigod girl from a monster. That would explain why Nico looked so familiar. It was probably him in the video, helping. He comes out a lot, but he's not supposed to leave Valhala. Not unless it's been long enough for people who knew him to be gone or if it's or Ragnorok. You're technically not even supposed to know i'm like this. He wants to leave and come out, visit someone he wants to see. He never says who though but they never let him out. Keep saying it's too soon after his death and I don't get why Alex and I are exceptions."  
"Me neither. Do you think we could get them to see each other somehow. Nico, he was very shut out after he lost his sister at the age of ten. He was broken and Will slowly build him back up. His death broke what little was fixed and even worse."  
Nico froze in his tracks as Annabeth and Magnus kept walking. He could feel someone else who was like Magnus nearby and he thinks he knew who it was.  A guy wearing pink and green and rose colors with green hair rounded a corner and next to him was a blonde. Said blonde had tan, surfer skin and sky blue eyes. Nico started to cry as Annabeth and Magnus glanced back at him when they realized they had lost him. Before he could stop himself, he was running at the blonde, nearly tackling them.  
"I thought you were dead!" He said, pressing his face to his chest and hugging him tightly.   
"I-I am dead." the familiar voice said softly. How Nico missed that voice. He pulled away,running the sleeve of his hoodie over his face to get rid of any tears or anything on his face.  
"You know what I mean, Will." Nico was angry at him now. Nico slapped him without even thinking. WIll was shocked as was the person standing next to him  
"I....I deserve that." Will said, gazing down at his (ex?) fiancé, feeling guilty.  
"Yeah, you really did. Do you even realize what that did to me? you didn't come and tell me you weren't in the underworld. It's been two years. Hades won't let me come back because he knows what happened the last time, i'm only allowed when he wants me. I can't get past Charon, I didn't know if you were even there but I had to assume. It broke me. All over again and even worse. We're not back at square one. We're at square negative one. I wasn't over you. I'm still not and I don't know what to even say to you anymore."  
"May I least explain?"  
"You're gonna do it anyways." Nico snapped, not caring about who was watching, mortal, Enherji, or demigod.   
"When I died, a Valkarie, her name is Sam, she took me to Valhalla because I had died with a weapon in my hand: a heroes death by Odin's terms. The gods live side by side I guess. Greek, roman, and Norse. Heck, there might even be Egyptian gods or hindu or whatever else there is. Either way, I wasn't allowed to leave. They might have killed me or I could have gotten into huge trouble and had to do something that would kill me-"  
"You're already dead." Nico growled.  
"Outside of the walls of Valhalla, if we die, we don't get reserected." the Green haired person said, but Nico didn't acknowledge them, his eyes fixed un blinking on Will..   
"Alex is right. They might have killed me outside the walls and I didn't want that. I was going to come to you as soon as they let me. In fact, I had been preparing to pack but Alex dragged me because of a call from Magnus telling us to come."  
"And you didn't say anything the moment you realized?" Nico shouted, glaring at Magnus. Everything around Nico was dropping in temperature he was so angry.  
"Nico, calm down." Will said, placing an hand on Nico's arm. Nico shrugged him off and stormed away, angry, upset, sad, happy he could see his One and Only. He was a jumble of mixed emotions and he needed to process them.

 

 

After nearly three hours, they found Nico sitting on a park bench with his head in his hands. Will told everyone to stay put and went and sat down next to Nico.

"I'm sorry." Will said. "I swear on the Styx that I am sorry for what happened and how it affected you. I'm sorry that I didn't-couldn't...couldn't come see you. I came the moment I could and I swear that it'll always be the case. I swear that I love you and that I always will."

"Swear me something." Nico muttered softly.

"What?"

"Swear me something." Nico let his hands fall into his lap and looked up at Will.

"What do you want me to swear?"

"Swear that you won't not see me...swear that you'll call me or something when you can't. Swear that maybe, just maybe one day we can finish our plan. Finish our plan, even if we live in different places because we don't have a choice...swear to me that you won't leave me while i'm here and won't forget me, even if you move on, after I die and if I don't end up with you. If I end up in the underworld with Hades."

"Nico, I swear on the river styx that I will try my hardest to see you when they let me and call you when they don't and text you and talk to you when I can. I swear that maybe one day, maybe we can finish our plan and get married, even if I am dead. I swear that I will not forget you after you die, even if I do move on, if you end up with Hades and not Odin. I swear on the styx to love and to hold you in sickness and in health, Hades do we part." The thunder made both of his swears binding. Will carefully reached out to take Nico's hand, but Nico pulled away, still looking at the the engagement ring he hadn't taken off.

"I still love you, but I need a little bit of time before I can treat you the same as I used to. I'm still angry at you, no furious. I don't hate you, I do love you, I just need some time."

"I understand." Will said with a soft smile.


	10. idk what to call this

"Nico, get the door!" Will shouted from the bathroom, the door half open to cal out when the door bell went off  
"You get it! im busy!"  
"Trying to sleep? im naked and its like noon! get up!" Nico groaned as he drug himself from the bed and walked to answer the door. He ran a hand through his hair and yawned as he opened it.   
"Hello?" he realized after he spoke that no on was there. Probably just another ding dong ditch. He turned to close the door but spun and did a double take: there was a child wrapped in a blanket laying on the porch.  
"WILL!!" he screeched.   
"WHAT?!"   
"GET A FUCKING TOWEL OR SOMETHING AND GET OUT HERE." Nico stared at the child, unsure what to do. After a moment, Will came out, clearly annoyed by his boyfriend.   
"What?" He had a pair of pants on.  
"L-look." Will's eyes widened.  
"Dont just stand there, pick it up!" Nico bent and picked up the sleeping child, although he held it at arms length.   
"Hold it right." Will was pacing back and forth. "First off, is it a boy or a girl?" Nico adjusted his grip and held the baby right, cradling it in his arm as he unwrapped the blanket and took a peak into the diaper to see.  
"Girl."   
"Let me see."  
"You dont believe me?" Nico said as he handed the baby over.  
"Im trying to see how old she is." Will frowned at Nico, holding the baby. "About six months." Suddenly the baby started to cry. "She's hungry and we dont have anything she can have yet!" Will was suddenly panicked.  
"I'm not good with people, give me the baby and go ask the lady across the street if she has anything. I know she had a baby whos about a year and a half now....i think..." Nico craddles the baby in his arms as Will ran to get his shoes and a shirt before running accross the street.  
  
"Hey...i-i hate to bother you..." Will says, drumming his fingers against his legs once the Lady answers the door. "But...this baby was left on our door step and she's hungry and we dont have anything and i was wondering if you had any extra formula or something?" Will was talking really fast but she understood him anyways. She held up a 'on moment' finger and came back with the package along with a bottle  
"Here. Do you know how to make it?"  
"Thank you so much and yes. I've made it at the hospital before." Will thanked her one more time before rushing back to Nico and the child, that was still crying. After about ten minutes, the bottle was done and cool enough.   
As soon as the bottle touched the baby's lips, she latched on and began to drink.  
"I'm gonna call the police to report this." Will said now that everyone had calmed down.  
  
-hour later-  
  
"Yeah, just left here. ding dong they left a baby and ditched." Nico said as he explained to the police officers that showed up.  
"Alright. We'll have to take the baby."  
"We know." Nico said, although he sounded sad. "I...i want to be her foster parent."  
"Nico, thats a big decision." Will said softly. "Are you sure?" Nico nodded.   
"Are you ok with this?" the police asked?  
"Yeah. I love children...and i always loved the idea of adopting or something." Will said, hugging Nico close.  
  
  
-six years later after fostering and then adopting.-  
  
"Papa, will i ever be able to camp?" Alessandra asked as she sat on the couch next to Nico after school while he attempted to help her with her homework. (thats what she was named in the Foster System) They had found out she was a daughter of Hermes.  
"Soon, sweetheart." Nico smiled as he pressed a kiss to her head.  
"Will! i dont under stand this! can you help her?!" Nico shouted and after a moment, Will came and sat down on her other side to help her. They were a very happy family.


End file.
